Technology is always growing, changing the way we live and the way we see the world. From the stone age, every advancement in technology has brought with it possibilities that were previously only imagined. Giant leaps in civilization and the growth of nations can be easily attributed to the discovery and access to powerful technology innovation.
This generation is experiencing a remarkable and unprecedented level of technological growth and advancement. Experts report that the rate at which technology is advancing is increasing exponentially. Chatbots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been at the forefront of innovative global technologies.
Chatbots and AI have been making the rounds in local and international scenes as the application of these technologies is enhancing business growth on a level that has not been previously achieved. While tech fans and experts understand the relevance and uses of these fascinating tools, many people have no idea that they even exist or of the benefits and possibilities they can unlock.
What is a Chatbot?
A chatbot is a kind of Artificial Intelligence (AI) program that can mimic human intelligence, using structured data and machine learning, to hold and manage conversations. Chatbots have recently found an increase in integration with relevant applications in the marketing industry. One survey estimated that due to the effectiveness of conversational marketing methods more than 80% of respondent brands planned to employ chatbots in their marketing campaigns. The increasing number of potential customers online and the popularity of social media platforms means that businesses can reach a wider audience and increase their efficiency. Chatbots can also manage customer service channels, answering simple questions, and providing answers to frequently asked questions quickly.
Chatbots can be cheaply replicated, handling numerous customer queries at once and without needing to rest. Equipped with Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) programming, chatbots can add emotional and personalized responses, adding a human touch to customer interactions.
The benefits include a smart system that can complete tasks with accuracy and effectiveness, the potential of boosting customer satisfaction and retention, improving service quality, minimizing labor costs, 24-hour availability, and increasing productivity.
Evolution of the Chatbot
Digital marketing may be a comparably new market niche, but it is growing into something remarkable. AI tools and chatbots in marketing and customer care has rapidly pushed the boundaries of what was thought possible. Most successful digital campaigns depend on creative content to attract customers. Even personal chats need to be, at least, emotionally balanced to keep potential customers interested and engaged.
In the beginning, chatbots had little to no natural language skills. Contents and replies developed by chatbots were easily identifiable for their lack of emotion. With additional learning tools and Natural Language Processing (NLP), chatbots have become stable on numerous sites. Chatbots can be used to augment customer care, responding to common queries, and requests. Chatbots can now generate targeted responses based on available customer data. As AI technology continues to advance, we expect to see more features and higher emotional capacity included in chatbots.
The benefits provided by chatbots have been the secret behind their popularity and widespread integration in the market. Merchants and business owners rely on results for the survival of their business, and can only make decisions backed by relevant information. Chatbots have repeatedly helped businesses scale, increasing productivity, and profitability with effective solutions.
Below are Seven case studies of chatbots boosting business growth:
1. Amtrak: 5 million questions answered by chatbox annually
2. RapidMiner
3. Perfecto Mobile increases website conversion by 230%
4. Baby Center: 53% click-through rate from Facebook messenger
5. Andrew Dolbin-MacNab
6. TradingHub
7. Career Chat
Amtrak: 5 million questions answered by chatbox annually
Amtrak was having trouble attending to customer requests and questions. With queries coming in millions, Amtrak was losing potential customers and having to pay extra for manual labor. Leveraging chatbots allowed them to rapidly clear outstanding messages. In one year, over 5 million queries were answered successfully using chatbots.
RapidMiner
RapidMiner was able to employ chatbots in administering surveys and acquiring customer data. While lead forms may be the standard form for collecting user data, they are sometimes ignored due to the effort required to fill them. RapidMiner was able to collect more data by replacing its lead forms with chatbots.
Perfecto Mobile increases website conversion by 230%
This is another success story of the marketing prowess inherent in chatbots. Perfecto was able to employ chatbots to attract customers that visit their website. Creative content and warm conversations in the comment section was effective in boosting website conversion rates.
Baby Center: 53% click-through rate from Facebook messenger
Much like Perfecto, Baby Center was able to increase its click-through rate by 53%. Using a cheap channel like a Facebook Messenger to reach thousands of potential customers. Chatbot engagement and creative conversations were able to boost customer interests.
Andrew Dolbin-MacNab
Founder Andrew Dolbin-MacNab had recently discovered the lack of effectiveness of email conversations in digital marketing was due to the use of impersonal messages. Leveraging chatbots, Andrew was able to increase his number of visitors from zero to over 1,500 in just a month. His click/open rates on Facebook are about 92%, and his subscribers are over 2000. His secret, he reveals, is using chatbots to create personalized and engaging conversations.
TradingHub
The popular online trading website followed suit, creatively employing chatbots to take advantage of their market sphere. Using chatbots to organize campaigns and attract customers, TradingHub recorded a decrease of 59% in the use of chum. This went a long way to reduce spending while maintaining the customer base.
Career Chat
In a bid to get the most creative and effective integration, Career Chat employed chatbots as an HR tool. Career Chat used chatbots to augment live agents, reducing the cost of labor, minimizing downtime, and enhancing effectiveness. The chatbot mode is used to gather data and provide information for simple client queries while the live agent solves anything that is currently above the chatbot capabilities.
Conclusion: How to measure chatbot success
After reading through the case studies, implementing chatbots into your business may seem like an inevitable decision. Keep in mind, though, that the business world is extraordinarily complex and dynamic. Every investment you make must be adequately evaluated to ensure that it performs better than the previous system, and the returns pay for themselves. Below are six metrics that enable you to measure the success of your chatbots.
- Comprehension: This metric determines how well the chatbot understands the messages that users send. A chatbot must be able to correctly parse text and run targeted searches to decrypt the users’ intention. A good chatbot should also be equipped with spellcheck and autocorrect features to ensure clarity. Finally, the chatbot should be able to balance replies providing required answers in engaging formats.
- User Engagement: Related to comprehension, a poor chatbot would only be able to provide preset and generic answers that lack the personalized approach. A good chatbot would be designed to answer FAQs, providing targeted solutions using information from a user account, search and purchase history, personal surveys, and more.
- Speed: One significant benefit of chatbots is how quickly they respond. This is especially relevant to customer service, where customers are looking for quick answers and replies. A dedicated database and a smart engine can provide a chatbot with the speed it needs to reply to the customers and solve problems quickly.
- Functionality: In the case of chatbots, ‘the more, the merrier’ rule applies here. Chatbots should be equipped with relevant features to make them useful in performing their duties. A good chatbot should provide visitors with a smart onboarding welcome, a rich media catalog, and creative navigation. All these functions will ensure a fulfilling conversation and an unforgettable experience for users.
- Interoperability: Interoperability describes the potential of a program to be executed on different platforms without bugs and glitches. A good chatbot should be easily deployed on multiple social media platforms, using an easily adaptable programming base should increase reach on numerous channels.
- Scalability: Also related to interoperability, a good chatbot must be able to go one step further. A good chatbot must be easily upgradable with the required modules. This way, users don’t have to continually build from scratch every time there is an additional duty. They have to get the module needed to scale their chatbot.